Creations Of Fire : Chemistry's Lively History From Alchemy To The Atomic Age

In this fascinating history, Cathy Cobb and Harold Goldwhite celebrate not only chemistry's theories and breakthroughs but also the provocative times and personalities that shaped this amazing science and brought it to life. Throughout the book, the reader will meet the hedonists and swindlers, monks and heretics, and men and women laboring in garages and over kitchen sinks who expanded our understanding of the elements and discovered such new substances as plastic, rubber, and aspirin. Creations of Fire expands our vision of the meaning of chemistry and reveals the oddballs and academics who have helped shape our world. "More than any other science, the history of chemistry is intimately linked to human history. Chemical technology has fostered the development of civilizations, altered the course of wars, generated the industrial revolution, and created the petroleum and plastics that fuel and shape our modern world. In this fascinating and significant book Cathy Cobb and Harold Goldwhite, two respected scientists and writers, have teamed up to present a wonderfully rich story of chemistry - celebrating not only theories and breakthroughs, but the provocative times and personalities that shaped this amazing science and brought it to life."--Jacket

More than any other science, the history of chemistry is intimately linked to human history. Chemical technology has fostered the development of civilizations, altered the course of wars, generated th

Martin Saltzman

Well-written, witty and erudite. An excellent introduction for anyone interested in the development of chemistry.

There are those who envision prehistoric peoples as grunting, stooping, quasi-humans with hair in unusual places, so there are no doubt those who would take exception to the title with which this chapter begins. A provocative history of the people behind the greatest discoveries in chemistry